With Liberty and Justice for AllI am disturbed by the recent state police announcements of police checkpoints. To my sensibilities, this is not freedom. There is absolutely no way that detaining people with no reasonable suspicion or probable cause and coercing them to comply with unreasonable searches at something called a 'checkpoint' is constitutional. It wreaks of The Third Reich. It is very difficult for me to have any respect for those law enforcement personnel who kno...

A helping handOn Saturday, June 21, I had to pick a food box up for a disabled friend. I was told to call Augsburg Lutheran Church. I did and Ms. Dorn and Ms. Choate were very helpful. I was so impressed with their operation. Everyone was treated with the utmost respect and courtesy. The food boxes were filled with numerous goodies, and there was even fresh fruit and veggies. I am so thankful for this ministry and those who donated their time and efforts to...

Now not the time to build Beebe legacyLITTLE ROCK — While there’s a strong chance Arkansas legislators will return for one more special legislative session under Gov. Mike Beebe, there’s little chance he’ll use it for legacy-building. One reason: The time for that has passed. If people haven’t formed an opinion of Beebe after his 7 1/2 years in office, there’s little he could do within six months that would push them one way or another. 135 reasons: If there is one grand idea Beeb...

Washington 'R's' remain on legislators' mindsAn article on Thursday, June 18 related that the U.S. Patent Office had stripped the Washington Redskins of trademark protection. For the remainder of this letter I will refer to the R-word, for reasons which should become clear. The reason given (in part) for stripping the trademark protection was that it is “disparaging of Native Americans.” From the article we learn a number of things: (1) The R-team can still use the name, but receive no t...

Shiloh Road concernsOpen letter to Mr. John Mathis and the Arkansas Highway Department District 8: This is an urgent request to consider a traffic signal light on State Highway 7 north at Shiloh Road before there is a loss of life. Often I am behind a half-dozen vehicles on Shiloh Road waiting to enter State Highway 7. Sometimes with a glaring west sun in our eyes and always with four lanes of traffic to watch, I dread trying to turn left toward Russellville. Now...

Ignorance is not blissCharles Guiteau fired two shots at President James Garfield. One grazed Garfield’s arm; the other struck him in the abdomen. It’s said the president fell to the ground, fully conscious and cried: “My God, what is this?” The first doctor on the scene administered brandy and ammonia, then inserted a metal probe into the wound in order to find the bullet. The probe became stuck in the shattered fragments of Garfield’s 11th rib and was removed — p...

A milestone in veterans careI, like most Americans, am deeply concerned about the recent revelations of systemic problems and allegations of misconduct within our U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The men and women who have served our country are forced to maneuver a health-care system with a massive backlog, outdated equipment and, sometimes, dangerously long waits at V.A. hospitals. Federal leaders must find the solutions to fix medical-care failures and meet the ne...

The AR STAR processLITTLE ROCK — Most of us, at one time or another, have experienced a lengthy wait at our local Department of Motor Vehicles office while waiting for our number to be called in order to renew our tags. But since 1999, there has been an alternative to renewing your tags. In fact, you can now get your car tagged right at home and even late at night if you wish. The Arkansas Streamline Auto Renewal, or AR STAR allows you to renew your tags by simp...

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Arkansas House of RepresentativesThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Government in private enterpriseLITTLE ROCK — When the board of the state Teacher Retirement System voted last week to increase its investment in a northeast Arkansas steel mill, it renewed questions about the role of government in private enterprise. For several generations elected officials at all levels of government have emphasized their support for policies that create jobs and promote economic development. Especially during tough economic periods, promises to create jo...

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State Capitol Week in ReviewThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Are you ready for change?The grand old man of General Motors, Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958), once said, “Change is the only thing that has brought progress.” I have no doubts that this is true, but change can also be very painful. It is however, the only constant in the universe, apart from the love of God, and we can choose to embrace it or resist it and be swept away by the rising tide. As we look to an uncertain future, the experts have been so bold as to publis...

Don’t write private option’s obituaryIn 1837, during a debate about a bill regarding paying bounties for wolf scalps, Arkansas Speaker of the House John Wilson left his chair and stabbed to death Rep. Joseph J. Anthony with a bowie knife. He didn’t like something Wilson had said about him. Please keep that story in mind as Arkansas continues to debate the so-called private option. It will be one of the most contentious debates in memory, but no one will be stabbed on the House fl...

Turmoil blurring Mideast bordersCAIRO — Working in secret, European diplomats drew up the borders that have defined the Middle East’s nations for nearly a century — but now civil war, sectarian bloodshed and leadership failures threaten to rip that map apart. In the decades since independence, Arab governments have held these constructs together, in part by imposing an autocratic hand, despite the sometimes combustible mix of peoples within their borders. But recent history ...

Veterans Memorial ParkThis letter is intended to expand on the excellent article written by Laura Bean of The Courier, which appeared in the Sunday June 15 edition, about our intention to further recognize area veterans. First, on behalf of the Coalition, I want to thank Ms. Bean and The Courier for their willingness to help with matters of civic interest to our community. Without the help of written media, airtime and other area communications, a project of the ma...

A bitter after-tasteThe news from Iraq that Islamic terrorists have now taken over cities that American troops liberated during the Iraq war must have left an especially bitter after-taste to Americans who lost a loved one who died taking one of those cities, or to a survivor who came back without an arm or leg, or with other traumas to body or mind. Surely we need to learn something from a tragedy of this magnitude. Some say that we should never have gone into I...

Colleges must deal with frequency of assaultsAmerican colleges and universities are being challenged to do something about the frequency of sexual assaults on their campuses. In connection with the release of a task force study in late April, Vice President Joe Biden offered a shocking statistic —that one in five women is assaulted in her college years. In fact, that assertion is in the first paragraph of the executive summary of the task force report: “One in five women is sexually assa...

Runoff guarantees more Medicaid dramaLITTLE ROCK — The defeat of an architect of Arkansas’ “private option” Medicaid expansion doesn’t necessarily doom a program heralded as a way for Republican-leaning states to embrace a key part of the federal health law. But it definitely crushes legislative leaders’ hopes for less drama when they take up the matter next year. Scott Flippo’s win over state Rep. John Burris in the Republican runoff for state Senate District 17 offered a substa...

Toilet is fixture in baseball team’s dugoutA Michigan high school baseball team is trying to flush away the bad plays by making a tradition of carting a toilet to its games. The former bathroom fixture has become a game day fixture in Kalamazoo Christian’s dugout. As the team celebrated a 6-4 win over Britton Deerfield in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 4 quarterfinals last week, players carried out the toilet to the surprise of many at Bailey Park in Battle Cree...

Limited government means different things to 2 major partiesProbably the most difficult limited-government issues involve determining the substantive rights as they pertain to individuals in a representative, federalist democracy. These rights are generally stated in the United States Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments to the Constitution) and the phrase life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the Declaration of Independence. Theoretically, the only limitations on these individual liberties are ...

New jobs across ArkansasLITTLE ROCK — Because of a recent wave of economic development announcements, Arkansas has a lot to celebrate. In the past few weeks alone, six businesses have revealed plans that collectively add more than 1,600 jobs and $140 million in investments throughout the State. In Fort Smith, transportation company ArcBest Corp. and Georgia-Pacific’s Dixie plant will bring more than 1,000 new jobs to Sebastian County. These expansions are particularl...

Amnesty lite is still amnestyNot since a 42-to-1 underdog named Buster Douglas knocked out undefeated heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in 1990 has there been an upset like economics professor Dave Brat defeating House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Republican primary in Virginia. You couldn’t write a script like this for a movie and have it be believable. Congressman Eric Cantor, with all kinds of name recognition, and outspending his opponent by 5 million dollars to $...